Education and Children’s Issues Wiki

New Zealand is NOT a Great Place To Raise Kids

Is New Zealand really a great place to educate and raise your kids? New Zealand is a place where “kids can be kids for longer”? The short answer is No.

Ask yourself if the following problems are present in your own country and what you hope to achieve by raising a family in New Zealand. Far from being “world class” the facts show New Zealand has a long way to go before its education system reaches the level of the rest of the developed world:

‘Baby Farms‘

Chose your childcare wisely, some workers say some early childhood centres in NZ are like “factory farming for children” or “crowd management”. According to a recent ChildForum survey, a quarter of early childhood teachers would not enrol their own children at their centres due to concerns about quality and lack of support. They say “children’s attachment and development of secure relationships, brain development, learning, and life-long outcomes are at risk.” source

Education Standards in “Absolute Freefall” : PISA and TIMSS results

Labour’s education spokesman Chris Hipkins says New Zealand international PISA result for 15 year olds for maths, science and reading are in “absolute freefall” source

“In the 2011 Trends in Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) published a year ago, New Zealand 9-year-olds finished bottom-equal among developed nations. Half were unable to add 218 and 191.” source. Furthermore, “University and polytechnic engineering schools have also complained they cannot fill their places with local students because most lack basic maths skills and need extensive remedial help” source.

Teachers Lack Confidence to Teach Maths Properly

New Zealand’s education is lagging behind according to the latest TIMMS and PIRLS studies. 76% of Year 5 students (aged 9 and 10) are lacking some or a lot of the necessary background knowledge for maths lessons.

Far from being among the world leaders in educational attainment we learn that

Being underprepared and not getting enough sleep are reasons why New Zealand school children are lagging behind their international counterparts, research has found.

Maths is a particular problem area, with more than two-thirds of primary school children lacking the necessary background knowledge for lessons – and their teachers admitting j lack of confidence to teach the subject.

The findings are contained in a Ministry of Education analysis of global education rankings known as the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) and Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS). Source

Low levels of Education holding back economy

In a damning indictment of New Zealand’s education standards an organisation called Workbase says that workers’ low standard of education is holding back the country’s economy.

“Low workforce literacy and numeracy skills are a pervasive problem, with around half of New Zealand adults aged 16 to 65 years not having all the skills they need to fully contribute to performance improvements in a changing environment.”

Expensive tertiary education

University of Otago domestic students face a 3 per cent increase on “already huge” tuition fees for 2016, meaning more than $900 more per year for some courses. Law student Rebecca Weaver said students “already pay huge fees and we don’t get that much out of it. We don’t even get free printing”. The University’s CFO wrote “Providing an acceptable level of funding for the academic divisions … will be difficult in 2016.” source

Roast Busters and Teen Sex Parties

A group of teenage girls interviewed by 3News as part of the reportage of the Roast Busters Facebook scandal freely admitted that group-sex parties were commonplace among the younger teenagers of west Auckland, (i.e. those aged 13-15). Watch the report here http://www.scoop.co.nz/multimedia/tv/national/86026.html.

Furthermore, when a 13 year old girl made a formal complaint to the police that she was assaulted by three Roast Busters gang she was subjected to further humiliation. She was made to re-enact the rape using three dolls, and had to endure questions about her choice of clothing. After “investigating” the complaint police decided not to prosecute. The Roast Busters group continued their activities for another two years, with more girls falling victim. Watch the report here http://www.scoop.co.nz/multimedia/tv/national/86062.html.

Gangs, Crime and Abuse

Did you know that according to Save the Children New Zealand

“Aotearoa/ New Zealand has;

A problem with gangs that are contributing to crime and abuse in the home. Young people are joining gangs for safety and are becoming victims of gang life.

A problem with bullying – particularly of specific groups like refugee and migrant young people.

A problem with child abuse which is not just statistics or features in death notices in newspapers but a reality that many of the young story tellers knew and experienced.

An issue with domestic violence affecting the lives of many children and young people.” A quote from “HEAR OUR VOICES” by Save the Children, NZ:

Despite statements like the above by Save the Children, New Zealand is often presented to migrants as a great place to bring up the kids. Is this marketing hype or just wishful thinking on the part of migrants trying to justify their decisions to emigrate to New Zealand?

High Youth Suicide Rate

One of New Zealand’s most shocking health statistics is its very high youth suicide rate. A Mental Health Commission report showed New Zealand’s suicide rate for girls aged 15 to 19 is the highest in the OECD (August 2011) source

Youth suicide is on the rise in New Zealand and getting worse year by year, adult suicide figures aren’t much better.

Youth suicides (age 15-19) rose from 56 to 80, the average number of suicides per year for this age group during the past four years is 55. The majority of all NZ suicides were male (74 per cent). 28 per cent of all NZ suicides were unemployed. The most common form of suicide was by hanging (61 per cent), followed by poisoning and overdose.

It is so bad that those who deal with the mental health of school children are suffering from PTSD

Two counsellors have taken legal action against a Hamilton school, claiming the high number of student suicides and deaths left them suffering post-traumatic stress disorder…

“It sounds patronising, but sometimes I feel sorry for New Zealand. We’re a curious anomaly. One day the country is rated as one of the best places in the world to live, most peaceful, best quality of life, best cities to visit, best coastline, best leisure sports. For such a small population, we do incredibly well at certain things and appear, from the outside, to be at one with the environment. Yet, at the same time, there’s high teen suicide and pregnancy rates, high alcohol consumption, high rates of bullying, domestic violence and child abuse.

If New Zealand is such a fabulous place to live, why are we leaving?…” read more on MSN Money NZ

In 2012 in one region alone – the Waikato – 48 teachers held criminal convictions for offences commited over the previous two years.

Figures released under the Official Information Act show, of the 48 convictions for the region’s teachers since 2010, 30 were for alcohol and drugs, five for violence and one each for sexual and pornography offences. As of July this year (2012) there had already been 17 convictions handed down to Waikato teachers.

There were also 38 cases of teacher misconduct investigated, including five for sexual misconduct, four for violence and dishonesty and 22 for what was defined as “other”…

Education lawyer and Secondary Principals’ Association president Patrick Walsh said the convictions were “extremely serious and very disappointing” and called for more rigorous vetting of school staff to reduce the number of teachers who “fall through the cracks”…

In September 2010, Putaruru College teacher of 30 years, Roger Bruce Radford, was convicted of downloading more than 3000 images of naked girls, some as young as eight, to a personal computer. Radford told police at the time that the photos were for his own sexual pleasure. He was sentenced to two years’ intensive supervision and 250 hours’ community work. Source

By April 2017 there was 80 Waikato teachers with criminal convictions: Boozed drivers, benefit fraudsters and violent convicts were among those not only charged in court – they were charged with teaching children. Dozens of Waikato teachers with criminal convictions, 76 since 2012, have been referred to the Education Council. And of that number, only four have been struck off the register. source

Despite the admissions, those who retained or were granted teachers registration included ones convicted of: Indecent assault against a teenage girl, assault with a blunt instrument and male assaults female, possession of an objectionable publication but is awaiting sentence, threatening to kill and assault on a woman, Grievous bodily harm with reckless disregard. A district court judge has also ordered the teachers council to reconsider a primary teacher it banned after she verbally threatened children in class.“

Approx. 60% of the convictions were for drink driving, among the rest are.

A teacher convicted of indecent assault against a teenage girl aged 14-16, in 2006. Sentenced to 200 hours’ community work last year, he has full registration, subject to conditions.

A male convicted of assault with a blunt instrument and male assaults female. He was fined $2000 and sentenced to 100 hours’ community work and also maintained full registration.

A male teacher convicted of possession of an objectionable publication is yet to be sentenced. He has full registration.

A teacher who was convicted of threatening to kill, and male assaults female, and sentenced to 300 hours’ community work and six months’ supervision, was granted registration but his practising certificate is pending.

A female convicted of grievous bodily harm with reckless disregard, and wounding with reckless disregard in 2008 was registered, but her practising certificate is also pending. Source Sunday Star Times

“There are students with grievous bodily harm, attempted rape, drugs and driving charges in our midst,” a high school teacher said. Some of these students brought drugs and alcohol to school, verbally abused, threatened and physically assaulted teachers. They questioned how many other professionals had been stabbed in their offices, or at work. Two teachers were stabbed by students in class, a teacher in Te Puke and one in Auckland, in the past 18 months.” Source Sunday Star Times

School based injuries

During 2011 the cost of schoolyard injuries amounted to $22 million, with 56,776 children being injured at school. When you consider that school is supposed to be a safe environment for children some of the following injury data may surprise you. It would be reasonable to question whether schools are taking all reasonable care of their charges. source

More than 7000 pupils were injured after hitting or being knocked over by an object. Being struck by a person or an animal resulted in 6838 injuries, and 5107 pupils tripped or stumbled.

Four pupils suffered electric shocks, 21 were hurt by fire and 12 were injured by an explosion, blast or implosion.

Five pupils were hurt after eating fungi, 41 pupils had something give way under them, 53 were exposed to the elements and 397 were hurt when a stack or bulk goods collapsed on them.

The most costly injury was injury to a pupil was $33,414 and the most costly single injury to a worker at school was $71,491. The ACC refused to say what those injuries were.

Education system failing

You may be moving to New Zealand because you’ve heard about its world class its education system? Do you accept that statement without question, or are you prepared to find out if there’s any truth in it.

Did you know that many migrants from developed countries say their children ‘stand still’ for a couple of years after they’ve moved to New Zealand and that brighter, more academic children are bored at school?

Read our education section below and you can start to become informed about what awaits your child in New Zealand. You will learn that half of all school leavers are being failed by the education system and because 45% of adults lack essential reading and writing skills, they are failing in all aspects of their lives as a result.

Are you moving to New Zealand because you think kids are kids for longer there? Think again, Kiwi kids are probably even more plugged in to technology and youth culture than yours.

“New Zealand children average 3.7 hours online each week, which is more than the worldwide average of 3.5 hours per week.
A staggering 67 per cent of New Zealand 6-to-9-year-olds use some kind of kids’ social network such as Club Penguin, Moshi Monsters or WebKinz.
36 per cent of New Zealand 6 to 9-year-olds talk to their friends on the Internet. On balance, parents of children that do talk to friends via the Internet feel that this has a positive impact on their social skills.

Despite being under age, 12 per cent of New Zealand 6 to 9-year-olds are on Facebook, according to their parents. While this figure does not mean they have profiles, they are still using the functionality.
Cyber bullying, what their parents considered objectionable or aggressive online behaviour, has been experienced by 14 per cent of New Zealand children surveyed.
Across those surveyed, almost one in six 6-to-9-year-olds and one in five 8-to-9-year olds have experienced cyber bullying. The problem gets worse as the kids get older” source

The early years

Let’s start by looking at the youngest children. Tens of thousands of Kiwi toddlers are in childcare of “variable” quality, according to a report into the formal early childhood education provision for 32,000 children aged under two, issued by The Children’s Commissioner John Angus. His findings were consistent with those of the ERO.

His report highlighted the practices in some childcare centres of placing qualified staff with the 3 and 4-year-olds, while the infants and toddlers are cared for by unqualified staff. He says “the government needs to look at the way current regulations and funding arrangements allow this.” Read more here.

Do you think that your children will be able to remain children for longer in New Zealand? Look at the official teen pregnancy, drug, alcohol and STD statistics – they suggest a different situation.

Children as young as nine are among thehundreds of young people aged under 16that are being treated for alcohol and drugs addiction – and that’s just in Auckland. The numbers of children receiving treatment is on the rise – there was a 20% increase last year (2010)

Teens

The Chief Coroner said he was “shocked and frustrated” by the high number of very young teens (some as young as 13) who drink themselves to death in New Zealand. It’s another symptom of the country’s hard drinking/binge drinking culture.

You owe it to your children to find out more about why New Zealand has some of the highest rates of child abuse, teen pregnancy and youth suicide in the world. Its problems with youth violence, human rights abuses in its schools, a bullying culture, the low quality of education and host of other problems including high incidences of diseases more usually associated with developing countries.

Have you thought about your child’s future as they become an adult in New Zealand, will there be sufficient work for them and will they have to leave to have a reasonable chance at a bright future?

Click on the links to see the sources, they all open in new windows, scroll down for information about education:

Tertiary Education

Much is made of New Zealand’s supposedly world class education system but this quality is not reflected in the international reputation of its universities. In January 2012 tertiary education leaders predicted that New Zealand students will most likely chose to be educated in Australia after reports that most of New Zealand’s universities are not performing as well as they were.

Of the six New Zealand universities which appeared in the QS 2011/2012 World University Rankings Otago (up from 135 to 130) was the only one to have improved on the previous year, and Auckland (down from 68 to 82) was the only one to make the top 100. In Australia 9 out of 22 universities improved their ranking. The top one reached the 26th position and 5 appeared in the top 50.

Canterbury University is $50m in debt and forecasts that will esclate to $118 million by 2021. The falling student roll is partly to blame – FT equivalent domestic student numbers have fallen by about 1800, international students by 400 – and earthquake repair and strengthening work which will cost an estimated $150 million. Consequently the university plans to make 50 staff a year redundant for the next three years.Source

“New Zealand has the second highest prevalence of asthma in the world. Possible factors include diet, climate, immunisation rates, economic conditions, community health care standards, antibiotic use in early childhood and the timing and number of respiratory infections in early life.” One in four children suffer from it and it is the most common cause of admission to hospital for children. Many people do not have optimal control of their asthma – often because they don’t know that better control is possible, or because of barriers to accessing primary health care.” Asthma Foundation NZ

One child is abused to death every 23 days. “Thousands of children in New Zealand are suffering horrendous abuse at the hands of the people charged with nurturing them every day. And even more are suffering lower levels of abuse and neglect.”

“Pupils as young as 13 are taking recreational drugs into Christchurch schools. Cannabis is the most popular drug among Christchurch youths, but police say “good kids” are getting involved in criminal behaviour as a result of alcohol. One mother, who found that her 15-year-old daughter was buying and smoking cannabis at her high-decile school, said she was worried drugs were “being handed out like candy”.

New Zealand universities have slipped in the latest international rankings. Only the University of Auckland has made it onto the top 100 list for this year’s QS World University Rankings this week (8 Sept 2010) It came in at 68th, way ahead of the University of Otago at 135th and the distant last, the University of Waikato at 316th. All the universities have slid over the year, except Wellington’s Victoria University.” Read more on Stuff

Labour’s Chinese community affairs spokesman, Raymond Huo, says bad experiences at language schools are making many international students look elsewhere to continue their education. As a result, New Zealand is gaining a reputation overseas for providing “ghetto education“, he says. Mr Huo will be introducing a member’s bill which would require PTEs (private training establishments) to belong to an organisation with high professional and ethical standards.” source Stuff

The education ministry is one of the worst-performing government departments, according to a report card ranking state agencies and bosses. The report found excessive red tape, bureaucratic systems and ineffective consultation are hampering government departments. The Education Ministry came bottom of the rankings for overall performance, chief executive performance, and quality of service. It was called “ineffective and too politically correct“, as it played a “piggy in the middle” role in the introduction of national standards.

Arson in schools amounts to $3.2 million a year. The problem is so bad that the fire service has called for sprinklers to be installed in all schools. However, the lower decile schools can’t afford them.

School vandalism costs $10 milliona year, money that would otherwise be spent on educating children. The damage consists mostly of smashed windows, graffiti and break-ins. The worst hit school is Auckland’s Papakura High School where $262,000 was spent on cleaning up and or repairing vandalism.

The average university student’s debt is $16,000 and loans must start to be repaid as soon the borrower reaches a salary of least $19,084. Those who leave the country to avoid making repayments are charged charged interest at 6.8 % PA after six months away. It’s one reason why many graduates don’t return home.

Young children who have died in NZ since the notorious ‘Anti-smacking’ law was passed

2-year-old Karl Richard Arc Perigo-Check October 2009 Wanganui. At the same time businessman Colin Craig launches an appeal to protest march for ‘democracy’ – parental rights to hit their children (the “anti-smacking law”)

13 thoughts on “Education and Children’s Issues Wiki”

As a Relief/Substitute Primary School Teacher I encounter racism on a daily basis from Maori students. I have found Maori students to be deliberately disruptive, mean, nasty and racist to European, Asian, Indian and other ethnic groups!
There was a lovely Asian girl at a school where I taught last year, from the Philippines, a top student, an extremely diligent worker in the classroom, who became so depressed by the Maori and Island girls negative behaviour toward her that she used to just lay out on one of the benches outside her classroom and cover her face every morning tea and lunch time while I was there.
The loathsome thing was that her European teacher refused to acknowledge there was a problem whenever I mentioned it. That poor girl lived a life of hell at school and every time I relieved/substituted at that school I could see she was becoming more and more depressed. Those Maori and Island girls never let up on her. It was disgusting! I’ve noticed that the Maori and Island girls act all tough and bully others to cover their own feelings of inferiority. I asked these particular bullies why they were like this and their answer was, “Because we are poor, Mister,” and then they laughed in that mean Maori/Island way. I can’t stand them and I hate teaching most of them. They are anti everything and refuse to learn at school but are happy to leave at sixteen, have a baby that the state will support and live on the dole for the rest of their lives. It is hardly any wonder the New Zealander’s of European origin hate the Maori, I know I can’t stand them!
I realise that the hate these Maori students have has been encouraged by their parents who hate everyone they see as ‘in authority,’ and everything derived from the white culture except for the life the state gives them to free load for their entire life.In my opinion, Maori need to segregate themselves entirely from the rest of New Zealand and live in their own generated squalor of gangs, drugs and abuse. Then they might appreciate the life that the other hard working cultures within New Zealand provide for them, namely the unemployment benefit, single parent and health benefit support. Maori represent the highest numbers in all of these government funded social support agencies – ironically, Maori often work in these agencies and openly favour their own race when vetting applicants for these benefits.
The world needs to realise what a racist country New Zealand really is. I know my own comments sound racist but when you work day after day with a culture that feels entitled to the extent that it disrespects and denigrates others so obviously, you would develop a distaste and even a hatred for them too.
If I was an Asian parent from overseas I would never send my child here to be schooled, especially in an area where there is a high Maori population. They will make your child’s life hell on earth!

http://www.fixcas.com/cgi-bin/go.py?2012c.AIDS New Zealand
AIDS Girl June 25, 2012 permalink While many graduates of foster
care report abuse, todays case beats most. New Zealand CYF placed a
girl with her uncle, a convicted sex offender. He raped the girl,
as did his friend who had AIDS. The girl, now an adult, is HIV
positive as is her child. The CYF response, right out of the
script: “changes were made this year to ensure better checks were
made”. New Plymouth’s Safer Family Centre counsellor Bob Stevens
said he had sympathy with social workers who were often put under
pressure to place an at-risk child. Another article referred to the
woman as Joanne. collapse Victim of rape faults CYF LYN HUMPHREYS,
Last updated 05:00 26/06/2012 A woman sexually abused after CYF
placed her into the care of her uncle, a convicted rapist, believes
there are many more cases like hers. The woman and her first-born
are HIV positive as a result of also being raped by her uncle’s
friend, who has since died of Aids. Her claim has been backed by a
prominent Taranaki sex abuse counsellor. The woman, when a troubled
Taranaki teenager, was placed in the care of her uncle, a convicted
rapist, by Child, Youth and Family. Child, Youth and Family has
apologised to the woman – now in her late 20s – and said changes
were made this year to ensure better checks were made. She was
removed from the uncle’s home when she told her social worker about
the abuse. Yesterday the woman spoke to the Taranaki Daily News,
saying she believes there were “thousands” more like herself. CYF
was unable yesterday to tell the paper how many complaints of abuse
they had received. The woman, whom the Taranaki Daily News has
agreed not to name, said she was continuing to work with lawyers
and TV One’s Marae Investigates programme to ensure that gaps in
CYF youth justice placement policies were closed. She did not want
others to be abused. The woman said both she and her child were
keeping well. New Plymouth police confirmed yesterday she was
interviewed by police more than a decade ago. New Plymouth’s Safer
Family Centre counsellor Bob Stevens spoke to the Taranaki Daily
News yesterday, after the teenager’s story was revealed on Sunday.
Mr Stevens said he had sympathy with social workers who were often
put under pressure to place an at-risk child. “I do really
appreciate the difficulty that there is for social welfare agencies
to find a place for a child. It’s a multifaceted problem and hasn’t
got a simple solution. *** “I’m encouraged they have put that
prevention into their system rather than go on about what happened
that you can’t change.*** “I do not believe that a social worker
that I know of would deliberately throw a child to the wolves, as
such, for the sake of expediency, but then sometimes expediency
demands this child goes into a placement and you take the
calculated risk, I suppose. “Personally, I have dealt with too many
cases to want to remember, including recently, in situations I
believe were avoidable,” Mr Stevens said. “At times I’ve despaired
at a system that has allowed a child who has been abused to be put
in a placement where the abuse is ongoing by other offenders,” Mr
Stevens said. Child Alert director Alan Bell said yesterday CYF
assurances still left room for doubt. “Even though this occurred
some years ago in 2001, it seems incredible that such a thing could
happen. “It is an absolute travesty that a government agency could
actually place a 16-year-old girl for safekeeping with a convicted
sex offender. ***”The New Zealand record of child abuse is
dismal*** … When abuse occurs after children at risk have been
taken into care by a government agency the public are justified in
requiring the highest standard of safeguarding them from that point
on.”

This is becoming worse. Drugs are mainstream in New Zealand. I have two children in the local secondary schools, and the teachers do not do anything about it. The children smoke weed outside on the football field and in the bathrooms. They are very open about it. The teachers and administrators turn the other way. Some of them have substance abuse issues too. Everyone knows who does and who doesn’t, and they cover one another’s bums. More than one fellow townsman has informed me that the “police are overwhelmed” with the drug problem. It is bigger than they can handle, and growing.
I live in one of the “better” areas.

New Zealand is not only among the worst drinkers, but also the worst pot/meth-heads in the world:

Experts aren’t surprised that Kiwis and Australians have topped the list for cannabis use in a new worldwide study.

The research, published in the medical journal The Lancet, found that New Zealand and Australia share the highest rate of cannabis usage, with an estimated 10 to 15 per cent of people aged between 15 and 64 who smoke the drug.

The study also found the two countries share the highest rate of usage of drugs such as speed and crystal methamphetamine, with 2.8 per cent of their populations having ingested, injected or inhaled them over a 12-month period.

A few people have told me that America is beginning to abandon the positive thinking “movement” as such, tarred as it was by the kind of unrealistic attitudes that brought about this recession. But as is usual for New Zealand, Kiwis are a couple decades behind. This facile pop psych cult took firm root in NZ, no doubt because of the pre-existing she’ll be right ethic, and still holds sway. That is why some of the features of NZ are what they are, and this is why they avoid negativity or criticism.

BE, author of the book recommended in the link above says, “Agitating for social change is the most positive form of thinking there is. In order to do so, we must believe that one person can make a difference, that our opinion is worth voicing, and that the world can become better – if we are willing to make an effort to shape it that way”.

Skepticism can be beneficial. Were it not for the complainers, those who said that the Emperor had no clothes, those who would not accept that status quo, society could not advance. Kiwis are still blind-high on themselves, holding the tall poppy scepter.

Do any of you fancy filling in a quick survey about private schools in New Zealand? It shouldn’t take more than 5 mins of your time: http://www.pss2010.net

You or your children don’t need to attend a private school in order to take part: the survey’s first 11 questions are designed to gage public knowledge of the law as it currently stands. If you are in a private school though, we’d appreciate it if you could also answer the last 10.

As you may be aware, the government is currently revising the law (it’s in Select Committee as we speak), so this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to try and secure some decent legal protection for children of this country.

Thanks for your time and please, pass this on to as many people as you know. The more people answer the survey, the more accurate a picture we’ll get;

Below is the press release:

—

Two parents from West Auckland are launching a national public survey today. Steve Paris and Angel Garden say the survey is to gage the knowledge and opinions of private school attendees, their parents and guardians nationwide regarding the forthcoming change in the law governing private schools.

Education Amendment Bill 2, which will update the law regarding private schools, is currently in Select Committee.

Paris and Garden maintain that their children were illegally expelled from a non-integrated private school in West Auckland in June 2009. Following this, they were alerted to the lack of parental input in the law revamp by the response to their own complaint by the Ministry of Education.

“Through Ministerial questions we discovered that our complaint hadn’t registered with the Government and so they were claiming that “no evidence exists” of any problems in private schools, whereas clearly that wasn’t correct.” explains Paris “so if they’ve missed ours, how many others might have been overlooked? That’s why I believe this survey is so important.”

Garden agrees, “before this century old law gets updated, parents should be informed and have the opportunity to express their viewpoint on the proposed legislation before it passes into law”, she says.

The survey is live online as of today and extends through to Friday the 8th of October 2010. You can find and fill-in the short survey at:

The findings will then be presented to the Government before the Bill comes out of Select Committee on November 1st 2010. “I hope a lot of people will take the survey”, says Garden. “It’s an important opportunity that shouldn’t be missed.”

The High Cost of Whistleblowing in Education – A Dirty Story
Private education and Steiner schools in New Zealand. Whistleblowing is at last gaining ground in the news, and whistleblowers of all stripes have stories to tell of targeting and mobbing. Would it shock you to learn, however, that simply standing up for

Walk for Water Quality
Walk for Water Quality This is an account of my walk of the Te Araroa Trail of New Zealand, from Cape Reinga, at the top of the North Island, to Bluff at the bottom of the South Island. I’m raising awareness of water quality issues in our country.

Will She Be Right
Questioning the classic attitude of New Zealanders to life and society.